President Donald Trump recently declined to be Time's 2017 "Person of the Year."A local Cincinnatian, however, has stepped – or waddled – up to the task, if Time would consider her.On Dec. 3, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden started a social media campaign to make their internationally famed baby hippo, Fiona, the 90th honoree.So far the Twitter post, which includes a mock-up of Fiona on Time's cover, has received 94,000 likes, 2,800 comments and 14,556 shares. The Facebook post has had similar results.Fiona has taken the world by storm, starting as Cincinnati's hope and moving on to be America's sweetheart. Her story began Jan. 24, 2017, when she was born two months premature. She weighed only 29 pounds, half the weight of a normal baby hippo.Thanks to her dedicated round-the-clock caregivers, and her inspirational will, Fiona has survived, becoming a social media sensation. She's been featured in dozens of newspapers, magazines and news websites. And now ... the possibility of Time magazine.Zoo public relations person Michelle Curley said Fiona is a good fit for "Person of the Year" because "she’s a symbol of hope and all things good in this world.""She’s something positive that everyone can agree on," Curley said. "She’s also an international celebrity. She certainly means different things to different people. Some say that she’s a symbol of hope, some say she represents body positivity, and she is the best ambassador that her species could hope to have."Curley said the Cincinnati community has rallied around her from the start. "People everywhere genuinely love this little hippo, and she is every bit as amazing and charismatic in person as she is in the videos that we post," she said. "She’s not a person, but she absolutely deserves the 'Personality of the Year' title." If selected, Fiona would be the youngest Time honoree, at not even a year old. Continue Reading

President Trump says he has no interest in being named Time's "Person of the Year" again, and in a Friday night tweet, the news magazine hinted that it wasn't going to do so, either.After the president said he declined the magazine's offer when he was told he would "PROBABLY" be given the title for a second year in a row, Time tweeted that Trump was "incorrect" about the process of selecting "Person of the Year."The decision will be announced when the issue is published Dec. 6, the magazine added.Trump tweeted earlier Friday that Time had wanted an interview and photo shoot with him, but, "I said probably is no good and took a pass," he wrote.After winning the 2016 presidential election, Trump was named Time's "Person of the Year" in 2016. Shortly after the announcement, Trump indicated he'd rather the magazine call him "Man of the Year."Former Time managing editor Richard Stengel quickly called Trump out before the magazine responded.Earlier this year a report surfaced that a fake cover of the iconic news magazine had hung from at least five of Trump's private clubs, including Mar-a-Lago in Florida. The weekly publication asked the Trump Organization to remove the fake covers, dated March 1, 2009.Trump has also falsely claimed he holds the record for appearances on the magazine's cover, according to the Associated Press.When Time named German Chancellor Angela Merkel its 2015 "Person of the Year," Trump complained they chose someone who was "ruining Germany" over him.The president has tweeted often about being on the magazine's cover in the past and its perceived woes as a print news outlet. Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller Continue Reading

Pope Francis was revealed this morning as Time Magazine's "Person of the Year." The newly-chosen pontiff was selected from five finalists that also included Edward Snowden, Sen. Ted Cruz, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Edith Windsor. Time Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs wrote, "At a time when the limits of leadership are being tested in so many places, along comes a man with no army or weapons, no kingdom beyond a tight fist of land in the middle of Rome but with the immense wealth and weight of history behind him, to throw down a challenge. The world is getting smaller; individual voices are getting louder; technology is turning virtue viral, so his pulpit is visible to the ends of the earth. When he kisses the face of a disfigured man or washes the feet of a Muslim woman, the image resonates far beyond the boundaries of the Catholic Church." The pope, who maintains an active Twitter account at @pontifex, has not yet commented on the honor, which dates back to 1927. Francis is the third pope to receive the honor, following Pope John XXII in 1962 and Pope John Paul II in 1994 What do you think of the selection? Continue Reading

Joy Behar Slams Trump: 'He's Not Right in the Head' Philadelphia Mayor to Trump: We Won't 'Walk Back Sanctuary City' Policy Distraught Oakland Warehouse Manager: 'I'd Rather Be Trampled by Victims' Parents!' President-elect Donald Trump has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2016.Every year, Time editors select the person — or idea — who has most influenced the news and the world.Past recipients include President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King, Jr."To be on the cover of Time as Person of the Year is a tremendous honor," Trump told Matt Lauer after the reveal.Trump did take issue with the fact that Time referred to him as "President of the Divided States of America.""I think putting 'divided' is snarky," Trump said. "I didn’t do anything to divide."Trump won the honor over ten other finalists, including Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Mark Zuckerberg and Beyoncé.What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. Trump: Japan's SoftBank Will Invest $50B in U.S. & Create 50K New Jobs Police: Anti-Trump Slogans Found on Burning Pickup Truck Pavlich Rips Dems' Message: They 'Jumped the Shark' on Political Correctness Continue Reading

Is Miley Cyrus THE person of 2013? Apparently so, judging by the latest standings of TIME magazine's Person of the Year online reader poll. The 21-year-old Queen of Twerk is currently leading in a poll of the year's most buzzed about names, pulling in 24% of the vote — and way ahead of other newsmakers such as NSA leaker Edward Snowden, teen activist Malala Yousafzai and even the Pope. Her nearest competition — Indian politician Narendra Modi — is a full 10% behind the pop star. Undoubtedly Cyrus' tongue-wagging summer sweep — which included the release of her chart-topping album "Bangerz," the scantily clad shockers that were the "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball" music videos and, of course, the onstage Video Music Awards romp with Robin Thicke in August — has driven up her Internet worth. But is she more newsworthy than President Obama or The Pope? Breathe easy, Parents Television Council. At least one website is claiming to have hacked the poll, swinging the wrecking ball in Cyrus' favor, according to Entertainment Weekly. And, according to the TIME magazine rules, the editorial board — and not the online reader poll — will ultimately pick the winner and announce the true honor on Dec. 11. Online readers have the chance to vote against Miley until Dec. 4. Join the Conversation: Continue Reading

President Obama was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year on Wednesday, while its runners-up included a 15-year-old from Pakistan who was shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting education for girls. Obama, who also got the title in 2008, reflected on the difference between the two years — and his two presidential elections — in a mid-December interview with Time. “It was easy to think that maybe 2008 was the anomaly,” he said. “And I think 2012 was an indication that, no, this is not an anomaly.” “We’ve gone through a very difficult time. The American people have rightly been frustrated at the pace of change, and the economy is still struggling, and this President we elected is imperfect. And yet despite all that, this is who we want to be,” he continued. “That’s a good thing.” Obama repeated the word “imperfect” later in the interview, while reflecting on the new Steven Spielberg movie “Lincoln.” PHOTOS: LOOK AT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOURNEY TO WASHINGTON AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES AT HIS TIME IN THE WHITE HOUSE “Part of what ‘Lincoln’ teaches us is that to pursue the highest ideals and a deeply moral cause requires you also engage and get your hands dirty. And there are trade-offs, and there are compromises,” Obama said of the 16th president. “Anything we do is going to be somewhat imperfect.” Teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai was named a runner-up, after the Taliban tried and failed to silence her advocacy for girls’ education in October. Yousafzai, who is being treated for her near-fatal injury in a hospital in England, has become an international symbol of children's rights since her attempted murder. Time’s shortlist for the annual title also included Bill and Hillary Clinton, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer and Apple CEO Tim Cook. The three Continue Reading

Could the man on Interpol's most wanted list also be Time's Person of the Year? If it were up to the magazine's readers, Julian Assange, founder of the controversial whistleblower website WikiLeaks, would certainly have a shot. More than 90,000 readers have voted for the 39-year-old Australian, placing him in third place, alongside comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Strangely, leading the pack is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey. And in second place is pop singer Lady Gaga. "For better or for worse, Julian Assange has changed the accessibility to knowledge of the two wars that involve the U.S., within a matter of months," Lauren Zalaznick, president of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks, told Time. "He has also put journalistic integrity on a knife-blade edge: What is the responsibility of the journalist to make public or keep private?" Assange's whereabouts are unknown since WikiLeaks' latest release of more than 250,000 top-secret U.S. documents on Sunday. Interpol has put him on their wanted list in a separate issue involving Assange, who allegedly sexually assaulted at least one woman in Sweden. He has vehemently denied the charge. The WikiLeaks founder is beating several candidates -- including news personalities, politicians, athletes and entertainers -- for the magazine's prestigious prize. On the list are Fox News' Glenn Beck (fifth place), former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (10th place), the Chilean miners (ninth place), basketball player LeBron James (22nd place), President Obama (sixth place) and the unemployed American (eighth place). Time's editors will make the final decision, but if Assange wins, he won't be the first whistleblower to receive the award. In 2002, “The Whisteblowers,” made up of Cynthia Cooper of World Com, Sherron Watkins of Enron and Coleen Rowley of the FBI all won the prize after they blew the lid Continue Reading

It wasn't quite the "Panel of the Year." Time magazine's "Person of the Year" has never been immune to weird choices: Recall the mirrored cover that honored "You" as the 2006 selection. Still, we were perplexed to see that the luminaries the magazine wrangled to discuss candidates for the 2010 issue on Wednesday included Meghan McCain and Wyclef Jean - two boldface names not exactly known for their gravitas. The discussion was held on the eighth floor of the Time-Life Building, where McCain and Jean sat alongside political strategist Joe Trippi, Google queen Marissa Mayer and American Society for Muslim Advancement executive director Daisy Khan. Would-be First Daughter McCain got a less than impressive introduction from Time managing editor Richard Stengel, who called her book "fantastic" but seemed not to remember its name. "Sexy, Dirty ..." he sputtered, before asking McCain to confirm that it was titled "Dirty Sexy Politics." "If anyone can make the GOP sexy but not dirty, it's Meghan McCain!" he added with an awkward laugh. Stengel also raised a few eyebrows when he introduced Jean as the "Haitian Mandela." The former Fugee took the opportunity to lament his foiled bid to be president of Haiti. "I was bamboozled, man!" he said of the brief campaign. Still, we give him points for his apparent rush to reach the panel: He didn't have time to take the price tags off the soles of his shoes. McCain, who wore 4-inch heels, was in as much of a rush to leave. As she hustled off to a black Suburban with her entourage, a publicist informed us that the busy Daily Beast blogger "absolutely" didn't have time for a short interview. "What, are you going to be mean to me?" McCain asked us. Meghan, how harshly you judge us! Join the Conversation: Continue Reading

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who helped steer the U.S. economy through its darkest days since the Great Depression, was named Time magazine's 2009 Person of the Year on Wednesday.Here are some facts about Bernanke.* Bernanke, 56, was named by Republican President George W. Bush to succeed Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve -- the U.S. central bank -- in 2006. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, renominated him in August.* Bernanke, whose reconfirmation is due to be put to a vote by a Senate panel on Thursday, has been credited with taking extraordinary measures to prevent the U.S. credit crisis from turning into an economic depression but he concedes that the Fed, among others, failed to spot the crisis before it struck.* Bernanke has taken unusual high-profile steps for a Fed chief, appearing this year on a popular U.S. newsmagazine program, CBS's "60 Minutes", and at a town-hall meeting in Kansas City, Missouri.* Before his appointment as chairman of the Federal Reserve on February 1, 2006, he was chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, from June 2005 to January 2006.* Bernanke had been a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University in New Jersey from 1985 to 2002. He taught also at Stanford University, New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is an expert on the Great Depression and monetary policy.* Bernanke was born December 13, 1953, in Augusta, Georgia, and grew up in Dillon, South Carolina. He received a B.A. in economics in 1975 from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in economics in 1979 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.* Bernanke has said the Fed has the tools necessary to unwind the extraordinary stimulus applied to fight the financial crisis without sparking unwanted inflation.* Financial markets have given Bernanke high marks on the job but lawmakers in Congress have balked at giving the Fed new powers to oversee the U.S. financial system, mindful of Continue Reading

NEW YORK - President-elect Barack Obama has won another contest: He's been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2008.The magazine has named Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Gov. Sarah Palin and Chinese director Zhang Yimou as runners-up.Last year's winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Previous individual winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. Join the Conversation: Continue Reading